OVERSEER OF THE BODY part 1

“Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task. Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach…”
I Timothy 3:1-2

Last week in church a wonderful thing happened to me personally. As the service was closing, my pastor put before the church the question of bringing a fellow member and myself on to the board. The vote was cast and the ‘yes’ vote won. But the happiness I felt was not because of a title but because a promise was beginning to be fulfilled. You see, when I was a child, as I have shared before, it was prophesied over me that I would be a pastor. At the time being a pastor was far from my mind. What child still in his single digits in age desires to enter the ministry when there are so many other occupations available? But as time continued on, and so did the same words prophesied by others, my heart began to change.
It wasn’t all that long after that instead of running from these words that I was embracing these words. I set out for seminary and graduated with my pastoral training under my belt in 1998. Three months after graduating college, however, things would change. Having explained prior to marriage where God was leading me, my dreams were halted once the honeymoon was done. The subject of this prophesy became the cause of many arguments and soul-searching. Yet I also came back to the same truth. I felt God pushing me into ministry. In 2007, following our divorce, a part of me thought, “Now you can run after what God first gave you years ago.” The only problem, though, was that in the eyes of many I was damaged goods. One pastor even bluntly told me that God would never use me for more than a Sunday School teacher because divorce was in my background.
Imagine that; imagine being told that for a divorce you did not elect to get, you now would be unable to proceed in the dream you had, or even more, in the calling God gave. Imagine the pain I felt when life suddenly wasn’t as exciting. For years I had felt the pit of not following this desire already, and now people were encouraging me to give up still. But why would God give me this prophesy, knowing all that would happen in my life, and then not somehow make a way? Does not the Bible say His word will not return void? So I then began to look at the qualifications of a minister as named in I and II Timothy and Titus, and it is from these books I wish to share with you over the next few days.
So let’s jump right into Paul’s first letter to Timothy and see where we land. According to Paul, seeking to be an overseer is a noble task. But what exactly is an overseer? The Greek word for this title is EPISKOPE, and means an elder or bishop. This same word has a little deeper meaning to it, however. It is also defined as the act by which God looks into and searches out the ways and deeds, or character, of man. Thinking this in true context then, we read that a trustworthy saying is, “anyone who sets his heart on being searched in character desires a noble task.” Regardless of if I ever step foot into full time ministry or not, this is what I want. I want God to take His fine microscope over my life and find the things that are not right in me so that I can get them changed. I want to live a life that expresses Him and His ways. Do I want it for nobility reasons? No. I want it simply because I do not want a gap in my relationship with Him because of a sin that I refuse to get rid of, or a behavior I want to hold on to. How many blessings have I already missed as a result of holding on to things that block His ways?
As we move on to the supporting verses, we begin to find exactly what the qualifications are for both those seeking ministry roles, as well as those who desire to stand before God during His searching. We find in I Timothy 3:2, the first qualification is being above reproach. Honestly, I do not think this is a term we use to define people much anymore. The word itself in the Greek is ANEPILEPTOS, and it means blameless, not apprehended, and one who cannot be reprehended. How many people can we say are blameless? I consider myself to be a pretty good guy, be even I do not think I could honestly say in full that I am above reproach. But notice too that the word alludes to not being apprehended. Apprehended by what, or whom? I have to be honest and admit that the first apprehension that comes to mind is that of being apprehended by sin. Maybe it is safe to say that the first qualification to being an ‘episkope’ is to not be in agreement with sin in any fashion.
The one seeking to be an ‘episkope’ must also be the husband of but one wife. Now this one seems pretty much straight forward, yet it was this one that I was told would un-qualify me from ever entering into the ministry. The actual phrase in Greek reads, ANER MIA GUNE, husband of only one wife. The term ‘of only one’ is defined by some as meaning that the person who is ever involved in divorce stands no chance of being involved in the ministry. Others define this term as meaning that we should not literally have multiple wives as was custom in the Old Testament days. But if we take the definition of overseer in relation to this qualification, would it still make sense to say the divorcee can never enter into ministry? Can the divorcee not be searched by God in his ways, deeds, and character? And consider this fact as well. We cannot be married to both God and sin as in so doing we do marry more than one.
The last of the seven qualifications found in verse 2 that I want to look at today is the qualification of temperance. The term is NEPHALEOS in the Greek, and it translates as sober and abstaining from wine. Now while I myself am not one who gives into drinking anymore, I do not judge those who do. We probably have all heard enough from the pulpit to know that water in Jesus’ days did not have the same filtration systems we use today, and as a result wine was normally drank. But it is the engorging of drink that makes one drunk, and therefore not temperate. That said, drunk people seem to make decisions while intoxicated that can be questionable, to say the least. So to prevent these questionable decisions, Paul encourages us to not be drunk with physical drink. But as one who wants God to search all aspects of himself, and be found in the greater definition of ‘episkope’, I must be sober also from sin. I cannot afford the wine of sin to intoxicate me and in the end be the reason that this office passes me by.
In closing today, I want to encourage you. I want to encourage you to evaluate your life in these said areas. While you may never be ordained and stand behind the pulpit, you do have the ability to minister to others with your life. Does your life reflect one who is apprehended by sin, married to God and sin, and drunk on the wine of sin? Or does your life reflect one who is blameless, devoted and married only to God, and not giving over to the aftertaste of sin on your breath. Our lifestyle speaks more than our words. What is yours saying about you?